


More Than Just Words

by daisygirl101



Category: Nancy Drew (Video Games)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Legend of the Crystal Skull, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-03-08 07:20:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,482
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3200438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/daisygirl101/pseuds/daisygirl101
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What if Nancy had approached Henry when he was outside his parents' crypt? Actions always do speak louder than words.</p>
            </blockquote>





	More Than Just Words

**Author's Note:**

> So I replayed Legend of the Crystal Skull. I haven’t played it in years, and I always see all over Tumblr about how cute Henry is, and OMG Henry is hot, and blah blah blah. I didn’t remember him being like that at all.
> 
> Then I played the game again. Fellow fangirls, I understand now.
> 
> This was inspired by the scene outside of Henry's parents' crypt.
> 
> Disclaimer: I don’t own Nancy Drew or Henry Bolet (I sure as hell wish I did though.)

Her heels clicked on the cold, damp pavement. The rain poured down harder now it seemed, and her clothes were becoming wetter by the second. But she had to solve this graveyard puzzle! She was so close…

Nancy came upon Henry's parents' crypt. She stopped in her tracks when she saw who kneeled at the foot of it.

Henry's white shirt was soaked. His head faced down to the pavement, and his body shook lightly with sobs. His black hair was matted and sopping wet. Nancy thought for a minute about what to do.

She could leave him to mourn in peace, of course. That would be the most respectable thing to do. But she could tell Henry was more than broken, and might possibly need a shoulder to cry on right now. _Respect or comfort? Which is more important?_

"Nancy, it's okay. You can come over here," Henry said quietly. She almost hadn’t heard him over the rain and thunder. She walked calmly over to where Henry knelt, unsure as to where this was going. She sat on the steps to the crypt in front of him, and noticed his arms wound tightly around himself. _He must be absolutely frozen._

"Do you want to talk?" Nancy asked after a short time. She truly didn’t know what to say. He was a wreck, and Nancy knew it. Henry still refused to look up at her. "Henry, please, this isn’t good for you. It can hurt you to keep things to yourself so much," Nancy began to explain. If he had been closer, she would have wound her fingers around his own. _Watch it, Drew. You’ve got Ned._

Nancy could see her own breath now. The storm had gotten worse within those few minutes. The thunder was louder, the rain fell harder, and the lightning was brighter now. Another clap of thunder and a flash of lightning made Nancy jump. This made Henry finally look up at her.

"Are _you_ okay, Nancy?" Nancy paused for a minute. _I'm not going down this road…_

"I'm fine. Do you want to come up to the steps? It’s a little less wet," Nancy said with a light chuckle and a small grin. Henry hesitated for a moment before slowly dragging himself onto the steps next to Nancy. His hair was dripping water, and Nancy's was beyond soaked after all the time she had spent in the cemetery.

Another flash of lightning illuminated their faces. Nancy forced herself to focus on Henry instead of the storm. His face seemed even more pale than usual, and his breath was clearly visible in the cold air. Nancy felt a shiver go down her spine, but she wasn’t entirely sure if it was from the cold. They were pressed shoulder to shoulder and could easily feel one another shiver in the icy, wet weather. Nancy stood suddenly, slightly startling Henry, and unlocked the crypt. She looked down at Henry.

"It's probably a lot less wet and maybe a little warmer?" Nancy began, not sure if Henry would be willing to sit in his parents' crypt. After a few seconds of looking between Nancy and the doorway, he too stood and followed Nancy inside. She left the door ajar and turned to Henry, who was now sitting on the floor facing his parents' tombs. Nancy sat down next to him without a word. Her eyes caught something rolled up in the corner, but she stored that little observation away for later. This was not the time to be a detective.

Eventually, their hands wound together, both still shaking from the freezing weather. Nancy shrugged her jacket off minutes ago, leaving her in her black, knee-length, strapless dress. Henry's left knee was up, and his right leg stretched out in front of him. Nancy's legs were stretched out in front of her. They once again sat shoulder to shoulder, with their entwined hands resting on Henry's knee. Nancy looked over at him. For the first time, she noticed a scar that ran across his left eye. Her detective curiosity kicked in hard, but she kept her mouth shut. _Now is not the time to play detective._

Henry's eyes were closed, and his breathing had calmed. His head was back against the wall of the crypt, and for a moment, Nancy thought he had fallen asleep.

"It rained that night," Henry began. Nancy suddenly awoke from her thoughts and turned her head to Henry. "Their car had been hit. I remember being told the other driver was drunk. I remember hearing that their car had slid across the road and down the hill due to all the rain on the road. I remember their last words to me before they headed out that night. They told me they would be back soon, and that they loved me…" A tear slipped from Henry's closed eyes. Nancy squeezed his hand and waited patiently for the rest of his story. "The police showed up and told me everything. They asked if I had any other relatives, but I didn’t talk to them. I didn’t want to talk to them. I wanted to see my parents again. But by the next morning, I was being told to pack my stuff and get ready to leave my life behind," Henry explained, his voice wavering.

Nancy had no idea what to say. She couldn’t imagine losing _both_ her parents to be turned in to a relative that didn’t care about her and didn’t know her at all. Her mom had been bad enough.

"I was shipped to this house. I remember the car ride over; I hung onto anything that felt like home… my stuffed animals, my clothes, my books… and now I've thrown it all out. I have nothing to hold onto anymore," Henry finished, his eyes now open and staring ahead at his parents' tombs. Nancy couldn’t take it anymore. He was breaking her heart.

"Me," she said after some time. Henry looked over to her, their faces only inches apart.

"What?" Henry asked with confusion.

"Hold onto me," Nancy replied. Henry hesitated a moment before dropping his knee and widening his legs a bit. He looked at her with wide eyes. There was a mix of fear and longing in those eyes. Nancy stood slowly and sat back down in Henry's lap, with one of his legs on either side of her. Hesitantly, he placed his arms loosely around her waist. Nancy let her back rest against his chest. She instantly felt warmer.

"Nancy?"

"Hmm?"

"Thank you," he whispered. She fought against her body to avoid chills from his voice in her ear. _Ned. Think Ned._ But all she could think about was Henry.

"It rained that night for me too," she began.

"Nancy, you don’t have to-"

"I was at home with my dad. We were waiting for her to come home from the store. She was making dinner that night and had forgotten something. She went out to get it. My dad offered to go, but she refused, and said she would go, despite the thunderstorm outside. Her car lost control, and she ended up in the lake and drown," Nancy explained. She felt Henry's arms tighten slightly around her and his head on her shoulder.

Henry had no idea she had lost her mother, too. He was suddenly extremely grateful to Ned for sending Nancy down here. _Ned._ Suddenly that registered to him. He had his friend's girlfriend in his lap. That probably wasn’t the best situation, and Henry didn’t want to be the one to destroy their relationship.

But he wasn’t ready to let go of Nancy yet. Summer claimed she loved him, but she never was interested in affection. Sure, they'd slept together before, but it had never felt quite like love he was getting from her. They'd always felt more like friends with benefits than anything else, and although Henry knew he loved her- at least, thought he loved her- he did know she didn’t love him the same way. It felt good to have someone to hold onto, even if it was just for one night.

"The police came," Nancy continued. "They told my dad everything. My dad thought the best way was to hide it from me. He told me she had a work issue come up and she would be gone for some time. I was only eight; I didn’t know better. So while the other kids at school suddenly apologized to me or looked at me with sad faces, I didn’t understand why they suddenly felt they needed to be friendly to me. My dad didn’t tell me until a week later, the same day we went to her funeral."

The two remained cuddled together, understanding each other. No words were needed; they simply understood what the other was feeling. They were content being pressed together for comfort from their pasts.

"You hate the storm too, then," Henry finally spoke.

"Yes," Nancy replied quietly. _I wonder if I should tell him the full truth…_

"What else is on your mind?" Henry asked gently. Nancy wondered where he'd kept this side of him. His exterior didn’t match what was inside at all. He truly did care. His words wandered back slowly to her. _I was naughty. But from now on I'll be nice, I promise._

"It's nothing," Nancy said quietly with a sigh. Henry nuzzled her neck lightly, trying to coax it out of her.

"Tell me. You helped fix me. I want to fix you," Henry whispered.

"Ned did send me here to check on you, he really did. But he sent me here for another reason too," Nancy began. She had clung to Ned for too long since their parting at the airport. "He said he didn’t love me anymore. He still cared, but he loved me as a sister, not as a girlfriend. He didn’t have to say it, but I know he broke up with me then. He wants to stay friends. I understand, I just…"

"…You haven’t accepted it yet," Henry finished for her. Nancy nodded slowly. Another loud clap of thunder made her squirm slightly. Henry pulled her closer to him. His thumb moved slowly over her stomach, drawing patterns lightly on the fabric of her dress. Nancy felt her eyes slipping shut. _Perhaps the graveyard puzzle can wait until tomorrow…_ "Nancy, you're freezing cold," Henry said, placing his chin atop her head. "Maybe we should get you back to the house so you don’t get sick," Henry explained. Nancy almost thought she saw the smallest hint of a smile. She nodded. Staying here meant she would more than likely fall asleep on Henry. And that would make for a long, cold night for him.

They walked back to the house, hand in hand, just content to have found someone who could fix the other. Nancy had draped her coat over her shoulders to try and avoid the rain some more, but it wasn’t really working. Strangely, she couldn’t find it in herself to mind.

* * *

That night, Nancy lay awake in the spare room, not being able to shake the night's events off of her. Between the feelings Henry was giving her, the loss of her mother, and the storm carrying on outside, sleep refused to visit her. After an hour of lying awake, she decided to get up and walk around the house.  _Maybe there's a book in the library I could read…_

She shook the covers off of herself. Dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, she let her bare feet patter down the stairs quietly, careful not to wake Renée. She walked down the dreary hallway, and noted that Henry wasn’t on the couch in the living room, where he planned to sleep for the night. She pushed the doors of the library open and found him sitting up on the sofa, a book in his lap and a candle on the table. He looked mildly surprised to see her.

"Couldn’t sleep?" Nancy asked as she stepped towards him. She noticed that he had changed too, and was now wearing a pair of sweats and a black t-shirt, allowing her to see his tattoo completely now.

"No, too much on my mind," he replied, sitting up so Nancy could join him. She sat next to him and sighed.

"Would you…" Nancy trailed off, unsure if it was an acceptable question to ask. She closed her mouth and bit her lip.

"What?" Henry asked, though he was hoping she was going to ask what he thought she was.

"Would you mind, maybe, just, staying with me?" Nancy had indeed asked what Henry had hoped she would.

"If it will help you sleep better, sure," he replied. Nancy stood with him and the two of them walked back up to the spare room, where Nancy was trying to sleep earlier. She pushed the door open, and Henry closed the door behind him, making sure to lock it to avoid Renée finding them together. He _really_ didn’t want to hear another one of her lectures.

Nancy crawled into bed and lied down on the far side. Even then, the bed wasn’t huge; they were definitely going to be cozy tonight.

Henry climbed in after she did, their bodies instantly pressed together. Henry didn’t know where to place his hands on her; he didn’t want to invade her space- though it was a little late for that. He found himself content with winding his arms around her waist. Nancy nuzzled her head under his chin and placed her hands on his chest.

"Good night, Henry," she said after the two had shifted into a comfortable spot.

"Good night," Henry replied. The two finally fell into a peaceful sleep.

* * *

Nancy turned to Henry, who was leaning on the wall next to the door outside the house. Her bag was in her hand, but she wasn’t ready to leave yet.

"Don’t forget me?" Henry asked with a hint of a grin. Nancy smiled.

"I couldn’t if I tried," Nancy replied. He finally broke into the smile she had been waiting to see. She set her bag down and threw her arms around his neck. He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her in for a tight hug. She took a step back and left a gentle kiss on his cheek, right below his scar. She gave him one last smile before picking up her bag and walking toward her cab. He let out a sigh- for once, not out of sadness, but out of enjoyment. He leaned on the wall as Nancy got into the cab. She waved to him and he waved back.

Even from her seat in the cab, she could read the ten-digit number she had written on Henry's hand only moments ago as he waved to her with a smile.

* * *

 

**Author's Note:**

> Henry is like, the cutest little lost puppy of life. Is it legal to own him in America? If it isn’t, can I move to a country where it is legal?


End file.
